Though, for the record, I’m still a bit flummoxed as to why people think I am gung-ho for torture. If that was the argument I wanted to make, that column would have been very, very different. Anyway from two readers:

Jonah, quick thoughts on your latest blog post. At work, so this is slightly disjointed.
The point is that the rest of the world now looks at us as a country who tortures, puts people in secret prisons, and legislates the removal of habeas corpus for suspects.
We used to be the leader of the world in human rights. Now we’re the hair-splitting, law obfuscating weasel for human rights.
The mere fact that this bill with massive Constitutional implications is being rushed through Congress to smear opponents in an election year is appalling on several levels. With several other bills still needing approval and passage, that we make this a priority speaks volumes about our political climate.
My point is, just because we don’t think we are withdrawing from the Geneva conventions, the rest of the world sees us doing exactly that. Our popularity among our remaining allies is going to plummet further (already reduced by half since 2000).
This is a major step backwards for our status in the world. If you can’t see that…

And:

I am not saying or suggesting that waterboarding is the same in degree as hot pokers, or rape, or all the other horrible things human beings can think up to do against another. It most certainly is not. What I am saying the Bush Administration is seeking to make legal (or quasi-legal) fairly extreme coercive force to get information. When you apply coercive force intended to cause pain–it will eventually cross a line of torture. A belly of face slap is not torture, but a day of it repeatedly probably is. Forcing a detainee to stand for many hours without sleep and with pokes and beatings when they don’t comply is torture (not merely a stress position). Making someone think they are drowning so they go into psyological panic is a form of torture. I assume Bush had our best interests at heart. I suspect we got useful information from some of the high level al Qaeda members given this treatment (certainly KSM). But I am very cocerned about codifying and making legal such techniques.